Broken symmetries associated with a Kagome chiral charge order
Chirality, or handedness, is ubiquitous in science, from cell biology to physics, and in condensed matter can underlie exotic phases such as chiral charge density waves and chiral superconductivity. However, detecting subtle broken symmetries that define such states is challenging, leading to debate and controversy. Here, using second-order optical response, we reveal the broken symmetries of a chiral charge density wave in the Kagome lattice KV<sub>3</sub>Sb<sub>5</sub>. Polarization-dependent mid-infrared photocurrent microscopy uncovers a longitudinal, helicity-dependent photocurrent associated with the charge order, indicating broken inversion and mirror symmetries. These findings, supported by theoretical analysis, directly establish the intrinsic chiral nature of the ordered state. Moreover, the absence of a circular photogalvanic effect perpendicular to the incident light imposes stringent constraints on the point-group symmetries. Our study not only visualizes the chiral nature of the Kagome charge order, but also highlights the nonlinear photogalvanic effect as a sensitive probe for detecting subtle symmetry breakings.
Authors
- Byung‐Hoon Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8949-4833)
- Tyler A. Cochran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1745-8467)
- Mohammad Yahyavi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0062-203X)
- Zi‐Jia Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9473-7753)
- Xiàn Yáng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5019-374X)
- Jia‐Xin Yin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2661-4206)
- Sen Shao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5530-2493)
- Yu-Xiao Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7958-3100)
- Yugui Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3544-3787)
- Guoqing Chang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1180-3127)
- M. Zahid Hasan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9730-3128)
- Luis Balicas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5209-0293)
- Md Shafayat Hossain (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3744-5877)
- Maksim Litskevich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3049-6521)
- Junyi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3306-1654)
- Qi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1243-344X)
- Zhiwei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0182-2471)
- Yilin Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3011-2193)
- Jinjin Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7391-8873)
- Yongkai Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7075-2975)
Institutions
- Florida State University (US)
- Beijing Institute of Technology (CN)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Nanyang Technological University (SG)
- Princeton University (US)
- Institute for Advanced Study (US)
- Beijing Institute of Optoelectronic Technology (CN)
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (US)
- Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences (CN)
- Zhuhai Institute of Advanced Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-04-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58262-y
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Condensed Matter Physics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.52
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Princeton University
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
- National Research Foundation
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research
- National Research Foundation Singapore
- Nanyang Technological University
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Ministry of Education, India
- Bộ Giáo dục và Ðào tạo
- Office of Science
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Division of Materials Research
- Basic Energy Sciences
- High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory